El tal Alejandro se acaba de meter

This phrase is from the move Ladrón Que Roba A Ladrón and it's where one of the thieves has broke through the front gate and the guard yells into his radio "¡El tal Alejandro se acaba de meter!". The English subtitles translate it as simply "It's that Alejandro guy!" but I really don't think that's all of it. I'm very confused by...pretty much everything here, and there are two confusing phrases:

El tal Alejandro - I have no idea what that means.

Se acaba de meter - "using up to put in"? No clue.

If it makes any difference the guard is supposed to be Cuban. Thanks in advance for any help.

"Se acaba de meter"
The "se" goes with "meter", not "acabar", so you need to translate "acabar de" and "meterse".
Acabar de... = "to have just done" (eg. Acabo de comer - I've just eaten. It's a handy phrase to have if you didn't know it already)Meterse = to enter, to get in. (maybe "to break in" South America?)

"That Alejandro guy just got in!" / "That guy, Alejandro, just got in!" (In Ireland we'd say "Your man Alejandro just got in!" but I don't think you use"your man" in that way anywhere else )I'd assume they know him but not personally - they've seen him before or they've heard of him.

"Se acaba de meter"
The "se" goes with "meter", not "acabar", so you need to translate "acabar de" and "meterse".
Acabar de... = "to have just done" (eg. Acabo de comer - I've just eaten. It's a handy phrase to have if you didn't know it already)Meterse = to enter, to get in. (maybe "to break in" South America?)

"That Alejandro guy just got in!" / "That guy, Alejandro, just got in!" (In Ireland we'd say "Your man Alejandro just got in!" but I don't think you use"your man" in that way anywhere else )I'd assume they know him but not personally - they've seen him before or they've heard of him.

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Oh wow, yes, that makes a lot more sense, thank you! Can I ask how you knew that "se" went with "meter" and not "acaba"? I never would've guessed that.

Oh wow, yes, that makes a lot more sense, thank you! Can I ask how you knew that "se" went with "meter" and not "acaba"? I never would've guessed that.

Click to expand...

It's because "acabar de +infinitive" is a very usual verbal periphrasis equivalent to "to have just +past participle". (Look it up in the WR dictionary: acabar.) Without an infinitive, it has no meaning; just like the English one meaning nothing without the past participle.

The verb "acabarse" (come to an end) doesn't have a "de" attached (Look it up in the WR dictionary: acabarse.)

Hi,
When we say "el tal Alejandro" we mean we don't know him, as colombo-aussie has said. It's like saying, "the one [supposedly] called Alejandro."

It's because "acabar de +infinitive" is a very usual verbal periphrasis equivalent to "to have just +past participle". (Look it up in the WR dictionary: acabar.) Without an infinitive, it has no meaning; just like the English one meaning nothing without the past participle.

The verb "acabarse" (come to an end) doesn't have a "de" attached (Look it up in the WR dictionary: acabarse.)

Regards,

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Ok, thank you, I understand. It still seems like a very strange way to say that, although it is technically correct. It seems to me that the much better way to say it would be: "El tal Alejandro acaba de meterse". Let me ask you something: which one would you, as a native speaker, use? Which one sounds more natural: "El tal Alejandro se acaba de meter" or "El tal Alejandro acaba de meterse"?

This phrase is from the move Ladrón Que Roba A Ladrón and it's where one of the thieves has broke through the front gate and the guard yells into his radio "¡El tal Alejandro se acaba de meter!". The English subtitles translate it as simply "It's that Alejandro guy!" but I really don't think that's all of it. I'm very confused by...pretty much everything here, and there are two confusing phrases:El tal Alejandro - I have no idea what that means.

Se acaba de meter - "using up to put in"? No clue.

If it makes any difference the guard is supposed to be Cuban. Thanks in advance for any help.

Click to expand...

El tal =a demonstrative pronoun that implies an already known burglar by the guard (thief Alejandro) with a tinge of derogatory, comtemptuous meaning added 'TAL' to ALEJANDRO.

El tal Alejandro = I am not sure if THAT carries that scornful, disparaging shade. What about 'The such Alejandro'?? just broke in . The 'se' it is a marker that means to finish doing something.

Ok, thank you, I understand. It still seems like a very strange way to say that, although it is technically correct. It seems to me that the much better way to say it would be: "El tal Alejandro acaba de meterse". Let me ask you something: which one would you, as a native speaker, use? Which one sounds more natural: "El tal Alejandro se acaba de meter" or "El tal Alejandro acaba de meterse"?

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Technically correct indeed. It seems we simply love placing the clitic pronouns before the verbal group, but maybe it's the preferred way for less formal contexts (although it's even used in a presidential speech); so, at least to my ears, attaching the reflexive pronoun at the end of the (main) infinitive verb is a bit more formal.

Just in case, let me clarify: The "se" comes with "meterse"; the "le" is an I.O. in its dative function making it clear it's my friend's house; the "me" is an I.O. of interest meaning I'm emotionally affected by that happening to my dear friend.

Oh wow, yes, that makes a lot more sense, thank you! Can I ask how you knew that "se" went with "meter" and not "acaba"? I never would've guessed that.

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Milton Sand has already explained - it's just that "acabar de" is a set phrase, and you never have "de" with "acabarse". It's just confusing here because both acabar and meter can be reflexive. The pronouns can go at the start or at the end when there's two verbs in the phrase, so if it doesn't translate properly at first, try moving the pronoun to the other verb and see if that makes more sense